Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said his administration wants to deport undocumented immigrants who have committed crimes and “will help to do that any way we can” once President-elect Donald Trump takes office next month.
Asked if his definition includes people who are merely in the country illegally, Cox said, “It is a crime. But that’s not where our focus is. Our focus right now is on those who are committing other crimes.”
“We’re going to start with criminals, people who are breaking the law and causing harm to Utahns … that’s where we have to start,” he told reporters during his monthly news conference on Thursday. “Let’s get the worst element out of here. Let’s focus there. That’s something we haven’t been able to do.”
Cox said not only has Immigration and Customs Enforcement failed to deport immigrants, but there are “countless examples” where ICE has shipped undocumented immigrants to Utah without a reason. He did not know how many times that had happened.
The governor said he hasn’t had any discussions about using the National Guard to help with the deportations, but ICE is not equipped to implement “mass deportations” of 20 million people, as Trump has suggested.
“[ICE leadership] lied about transportation, they lied to us about bed space. We offered them fixes, to provide facilities to lock up these criminals and they won’t negotiate, they won’t return calls,” Cox said. “They lie about Utah being a sanctuary state. The ICE leadership has been an embarrassment, and there’s no way any of this is going to happen until we get an administration that can fix that piece of it.”
Spokespeople for ICE did not return an email Thursday seeking a response to Cox’s criticism.
The governor said there are “200-plus” incarcerated immigrants in the state who could be deported, saving taxpayers “millions” of dollars. Violent criminals, like murderers, would have to serve their sentence, rather than being deported so they could potentially reenter the country and re-offend.
“If [we are] a country with open borders that can’t deport those who are committing crimes, then we’re not much of a country at all,” Cox said.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Utah issued a statement Thursday that said Cox’s proposal forces local law enforcement to enforce federal immigration law and risks depriving Utahns, regardless of their immigration status, of their due process rights by taking shortcuts in the process.
It could also prompt law enforcement to engage in discriminatory policing practices and jeopardize public safety by creating mistrust between officers and segments of the public, the group said.
“If you believe in the sanctity of the rule of law, it’s not a partisan issue,” the statement said. “Civil rights and liberties are not just for some — they are for everyone in America. We must uphold the principles enshrined in both the U.S. and Utah Constitutions — the bedrock of democracy.”
Cox said his administration is getting “tremendous support” from the Latino community.
Election changes
The governor also said it is “highly unlikely” he would sign a bill into law that would repeal mail-in voting — an issue that has drawn House Speaker Mike Schultz’s attention since an audit was released earlier this month that found during the last three elections, two ballots were cast by voters who were deceased and three people voted more than once.
“Is vote-by-mail really as secure as in-person voting? And based on the audits we have in front of us, it’s clearly not the case,” Schultz said when the audit was released. “That’s concerning to me moving forward.”
Last year, legislation was introduced to make by-mail voting an opt-in process, otherwise requiring Utahns to cast ballots in person. While that bill will be back in the upcoming session, Cox said he would probably veto attempts by the Legislature to do away with mail-in voting.
“It is early to be asking that,” he said. “I would have to see what else is in the bill and what they thought through, but it is highly unlikely I would sign a bill that completely eliminates mail-in voting.”
There are improvements to the election system that can be made, he told reporters. In particular, he would like to see results released sooner than they are, even if that means moving up the deadline for mail-in ballots to be returned.
And it would make sense to let the public see who signed a candidate’s petition to get a spot on the primary ballot — something his opponent in the last election, state Rep. Phil Lyman, sued Cox to try to get. Cox said the law says the signatures are private, but it should be changed.
Cox does not support getting rid of the signature path to the ballot, thus requiring candidates to seek the party’s nomination at their respective conventions.
The dual-track system “strikes an important balance in keeping the caucus system alive … but also giving the public another [path],” he said. “A prime example of this, most of the major electeds in this cycle, including our new state senator, our attorney general and myself showed that Republicans in the state were not the same as the delegates.”
He also said that the process for registering to vote on Election Day can be streamlined, but blamed the Utah County Clerk Aaron Davidson for the long lines at polling places when they ran out of paper to print ballots. The state had to dispatch a government airplane to Phoenix to get more paper that was the right size.
“Just because somebody failed at their job and didn’t order enough paper and ink, that’s no reason to change the electoral system. It may be a reason to vote for somebody different for that position,” he said.
